Contemplation of 4th Edition

I am looking forward to the 4th Edition of Kings of War. I have been very fortunate to be included in the distribution of the preview information and to have also attended a playtest event at Mantic. With the knowledge gained from that I have written a brief summary of the changes I have noticed So Far in the Rules. I have no experience of Command Orders, other than reading them in my review lists, but I have played the basic rules and so I am happy to list the changes I have spotted so far.

While many core principles remain (using D6s(despite all the Clamour to change to D8's lol) , rolling to hit then to damage, alternating turns ), the 4th Edition introduces major changes to army building, morale, movement, and basing ( not round ones though)

The Nerve system has been completely reworked:

●     Single Nerve Value: KoW 3 used a "Waver/Rout" double value (e.g., 11/13). KoW 4 uses a single Nerve value (e.g., 13+).

●     Failed Test Outcome: In KoW 3, exceeding the first value caused a "Waver" and exceeding the second caused a "Rout". In KoW 4, the outcome of a failed test depends on the source of the damage:

○     A failed test from Ranged attacks causes the unit to become Wavering.

○     A failed test from Combat causes the unit to be Routed.

●     "Devastated" Status: In KoW 3, this status (damage > Rout limit) halved a unit's Attacks and Unit Strength. In KoW 4, "Devastated" (damage > Nerve value) does the same, but also causes any Wavering result (from Ranged) to become a Rout instead. It also Halves the Units Unit strength.

●     Exceptional Morale:

○     Double 1: Still results in "Steady" in both versions.

○     Double 6: In KoW 3, this caused a "Waver" if the unit wasn't Routed. In KoW 4, if the test is from Ranged it causes a "Waver"; if it's from Combat (and the unit isn't Routed), it causes D6 additional damage

Movement

●     Movement Orders: Movement is generally more flexible in KoW 4.

○     Advance: Now allows two 90° pivots (up from one).

○     Back / Sidestep: Now allow one 90° pivot (up from zero)

○ Double Move: Now allow one 90° pivot (up from zero)

●     Engaged Units: This is a major change.

○     KoW 3 had a "Counter Charge" order.

○     KoW 4 removes "Counter Charge." Engaged units can now only be given a Halt!, Withdraw!, or Reform! order.

○     Reform! allows a unit to align properly with the enemy it's fighting,

○     Withdraw! is a new, risky order to disengage. The unit must take a Nerve test; failing it causes the unit to be Routed^,

Charging: KoW 4 now imposes a hard limit of a maximum of two friendly units charging a single enemy facing, but it allows the two charging units to move simultaneously, thus simplifying the move . basically if the units meet the conditions to charge the facing then they are both moved into position as Multiple Charging units no longer count as impassable for friendly units as before, then they are shuffled so their leader points are as close to the leader point of the target as possible, no more "Equal sharing"! of the facing as previously required.

Shooting

Shooting Modifier: KoW 3 had a -1 "Moving" modifier for units that moved. KoW 4 removes this penalty and instead rewards stationary units with a +1 "Aiming" modifier for receiving a "Halt!" order.

Combat ( The Melee phase is now called Combat)

Splitting Attacks: KoW 4 explicitly states that a unit engaged with multiple enemies can split its attacks between them.

Units and Basing

●     Unit Bases: KoW 3's rules were written assuming models on individual bases placed in a "movement tray". KoW 4 standardises on "unit bases" (i.e., multi-bases) as the default, where models are glued directly to a single large base.

●     Hero Bases: Hero bases are now larger and more standardised.

○     Hero (Inf): Moves from a 20mm/25mm square to a 40mm square base.

○     Hero (Cav): Moves from a 25x50mm base to a 50mm square base.

●     Simplified Unit Types: KoW 4 folds legacy unit types into the main ones, providing "legacy" base sizes for them.

○     Heavy Infantry is now treated as Infantry (on a 125x100mm Regimental base).

○     Monstrous Infantry is now treated as Large Infantry (on a 150x100mm Regimental base).

○     Titans are now treated as Monsters (on a 75mm square base).

Army Building ( Completely new system)

The KoW 3 "unlocking" system (e.g., Regiments unlock Heroes/Monsters/Troops) is replaced entirely.

KoW 4 uses a new "Battalion" system. Armies are built using one or more Battalions, which have a strict organisational structure:

●     Categories: Units are now in five categories: Core, Auxiliary, Specialist, Support, and Commanders (which includes Warlords) .

●     Structure:

1.    A Battalion must have 1 Commander and 2 Core units.

2.    Each Core unit unlocks 1 Auxiliary unit and 1 Specialist unit (max 4).

3.    Every pair of Core and/or Specialist units unlocks 1 Support unit (max 4) and 1 Commander unit (max 4).

●     Unit Limits: KoW 3's "Irregular" units are gone. KoW 4 has "Limited" [n] (max 'n' per Battalion)and "Unique" [U] (max 1 per Army).

●     Allies: The rules for Allies (max 25%, alignment matching) have been completely dropped as has the Good, Evil, Neutral Alignment system.

Individual: This rule is simplified. Its components in KoW 3, like "Nimble" and "Yielding," are now separate special rules in KoW 4. Individuals still get the 360 degree free pivot EXCEPT on charge moves and they now have Flanks and Rears as they are on the Larger bases.

I hope this has helped a little with some of the understandings and I will continue to update this Blogpost as I find out more things to compare :)